Key holder

ABSTRACT

A rigid key holder presenting an exterior surface embossed or printed to display desired indicia and providing ready access to retained keys while permitting simplified removal or insertion thereof. The key holder employs two outer sides which are rigid but selectively and temporarily deformable to allow insertion or removal of a key.

United States Patent Dehart Apr. 15, 1975 KEY HOLDER 3,354.67) ll/l967 Lcfave 70/456 R 3 l. 91) W 70 5 [76] inventor: Guy K. Dehart, 4493 Cumilc. Salt 6 777 71 /4 8 Lake City, Utah 84117 Primary E.\'an1incrRobert L. Wolfe [22] Flled: 1973 Attorney. Agent, or Firm-H. Ross Workman; J. 211 Appl. No.: 415,260 Winslew Young [52] US. Cl 70/456 R [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. A47g 29/10 I I [58] Field of Search 70/456 R, 456 B, 457, 458, A kw l i 1 em 150/40. 2 K hossed or prmted to dlsplay deslred mdlcla and providing ready access to retained keys while permitting t. simplified removal or insertion thereof. The key [56] References (Med holder employs two outer sides which are rigid but sc- UNITED STATES PATENTS lcctively and temporarily deformable to allow inserl,974 558 9/]934 Andis 70/456 R tion or removal of a key.

2,657,569 ll/l953 Hill 70/456 R 2.764.202 9/1956 Jackson 70/456 R 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures KEY HOLDER BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to key-holding apparatus and more particularly to rigid key-holders which are temporarily deformable to allow insertion .or removal of keys.

2. The Prior Art The carrying of keys has become a necessity in our society owing to the great number of conventional uses which are made of key locks. A wide variety of key returning devices is observed in the prior art. Such devices encompass configurations ranging from a simple key chain to highly sophisticated push-button keyholding devices.

One conventional key holder is a leather or vinyl plastic enclosure for keys which employs threadedly engageable studs to retain the keys in the holder. A significant problem associated with that type of key holder is the difficulty involved in removing a key from the holder and additionally the expense of manufacture and imprintation makes the flexible leather or flexible vinyl holder using threaded studs undesirable for general, inexpensive advertising purposes.

BRIEF SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises novel key-holding apparatus which provides ready access to keys while securely retaining them on pins between two temporarily deformable sides which have spring return memory. Furthermore, the invention contemplates imprintation of promotional information on the outer sides of the key holder and represents a highly desirable media for advertising.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a key holder employing two temporarily deformable sides which allow easy removal or insertion of keys while accessibly maintaining the keys for use.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a key holder which applies a frictional force upon the retained keys in order to prevent inadvertent movement of the keys with respect to the holder.

A further object of the invention is to provide a key holder which will readily accommodate imprintation of advertising or other information on its exterior surfaces.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of another preferred embodiment of the invention which is capable of accessibly retaining four keys; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. I particularly illustrating the deformation of the sides to allow insertion of a key.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the present invention, a key holder 20 is provided. The key holder 20 has two opposing generally parallel sides 22 and 24. The sides 22 and 24 are composed of rigid plastic or metal with mechanical memory. In this specification, the term mechanical memory" is defined to mean the characteristic of a material to return to a particular shape after being temporarily deformed. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, it should be observed that sides 22 and 24 are bent in a slight V-shape. The slight angle formed by the bend in the sides has been found to add to the strength of the side and increases the force required to deform the side for insertion or removal ofa key. Of course. completely flat sides would function in the same manner as the sides 22 and 24, but may require the use of a stronger material than that required when the V-shape configuration is employed.

The sides 22 and 24 also contain a generally semicircular cut-out 26 in order to facilitate access to the keys when they are retained in the holder. The cut-out 26 is appropriately positioned on the side to allow the use of a thumb or finger to rotate the key from its stored position within the case against the friction imposed by the sides 22 and 24.

The two sides are generally centrally connected by dowel 28. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the dowel 28 is a generally cylindrical rigid plastic member which is permanently attached at each end to one of the two sides 22 or 24. The dowel 28 is of a length which causes the extreme ends 30 and 32 of the sides 22 and 24 to impinge upon the retained key in order to frictionally restrain the key from rotation within the holder until it is purposefully withdrawn by the thumb or finger of the person using the holder. The frictional restraint is localized at the extreme ends 30 and 32 because of the V-shaped configuration of the sides 22 and 24. Thus, the friction does not act upon the entire key surface which friction may make the key difficult to rotate into the exposed position.

A key-retaining pin 34 is attached to side 22 near one end of the holder 20. Likewise, a second key-retaining pin 36 is affixed to the end of the side 24 at the opposite end of the holder 20. The two key-retaining pins 34 and 36 are oriented generally perpendicular to the side to which they are affixed. The pins 34 and 36 are of a length which will allow the pins to very nearly contact the opposing side without interfering with the impingement action upon the key by the ends of the sides as described above. Additionally, the pins 34 and 36 must be of a diameter smaller than the diameter of the center hole of a standard key. The pins 34 and 36 are spaced from the ends of the sides 22 and 24 a sufficient distance to prevent the head of a retained key from protruding beyond the ends of the sides while it is being stored in the holder 20.

A second embodiment 40 of the invention is shown in FIG. 3. The key holder 40 is capable of holding four keys in an easily accessible manner. The sides 42 and 44 of the holder 40 are substantially the same as the sides 22 and 24 of the key holder 20 (see FIG. 2). Certain differences are observed in the positioning of the cut-outs 26 in the holder 40 since four cut-outs should be made in the sides rather than two as in the embodiment 20 of FIG. 2. The four-key holder 40 employs a centrally disposed carrier segment 46. All four of the key-retaining pins 48 are attached to the carrier segment 46 and are subject to the same restrictions with respect to length and position as indicated with reference to the pins 34 and 36 of the two-key embodiment 20. The carrier segment 46 may be flat and of any convenient size. However, one operable size has been found to be the size of the peripheral configuration of the two sides 42 and 44 absent the cut-outs 26.

It should be recognized that the four key-retaining pins 48 could alternatively be affixed to the sides 42 and 44 rather than to the carrier segment 46. The dowel S of the four-key holder serves substantially the same purpose as the dowel 28 of the two-key holder. Dowel 50 of course is longer than dowel 28 but still is selected to be a length which causes the ends of the sides 42 and 44 to impinge upon the retained keys and press them against the carrier segment 46.

As shown in FIG. 4, the insertion of a key 52 is accomplished through spreading of the ends 30 and 32 of the sides 22 and 24, respectively. The spreading of the sides may be readily accomplished through the use of a coin, key, screw driver blade, or any other rigid flat object which could be used to exert opposing forces on the sides 24 and 22.

After the sides 22 and 24 are spread apart, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the key 52 may be installed in the holder through the engagement of the pin 36 with the aperture 54 of the key. Since the material of which the sides are constructed has mechanical memory, the ends 30 and 32 of the sides will return to a position wherein they impinge upon the key 52 after the separating force has been removed. A similar procedure would be applicable to the insertion or removal of keys in the embodiment 40 of FIG. 3.

As shown in FlG. l, the exterior surfaces of the sides 22 and 24 are advantageously embossed or printed with advertising, or other information. Owing to the very low cost of manufacturing an embodiment of the present invention, an important use of the invention may be as an advertising medium. Accordingly, a final defined characteristic of the sides 22 and 24 is that they should readily accept embossed or imprinted advertising or other information.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive and the scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A key holder comprising: a first rigid side being centrally bent toward a second side;

a second rigid side being centrally bent toward the first side, at least one of the first and second sides being temporarily deformable and having mechanical memory the first and second sides defining an unobstructed space and converging at their ends so as to provide a localized frictional restraint;

a dowel centrally disposed and permanently affixed to each of the first and second sides for holding at least one point on the first side in fixed spatial rela tion with a point on the second side, the dowel having a first greater axial dimension;

key retaining pins mounted transversely between the sides near each end thereof, each pin being rigidly attached to one of the sides and unattached to the other so that the pin will become spaced from the other side sufficiently to admit a key when a separating force is exerted upon at least one of the sides the pins having a second lesser axial dimension so as to permit the sides to converge at their ends and impinge upon the key in localized frictional restraint.

2. A key holder as defined in claim 1 wherein said first and second sides present generally semi-circular cutouts for facilitating access to the retained keys.

3. A key holder as defined in claim 1 wherein said second sides present an exterior imprintable surface.

4. A key holder as defined in claim 1 wherein the key retaining pins are attached to opposite sides at opposite ends thereof.

5. A key holder as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

carrying means permanently mounted upon the dowel and spaced from both the first and second sides and having substantially the same size and peripheral configuration as the first and second sides; and

additional key retaining pins mounted transversely between the sides so as to have one unattached end thereby permitting the pins to become spaced sufficiently to admit a key when a separating force is exerted upon at least one of the sides.

6. A key holder comprising:

a first centrally and slightly bent, temporarily deformable side having mechanical memory;

a second centrally and slightly bent, temporarily deformable side having mechanical memory;

a connecting dowel having a first greater axial dimension and centrally disposed and affixed to each of the sides for maintaining the centers of the sides sufficiently spaced to cause only the ends of the sides to impinge upon the heads of retained keys and exert localized frictional restraint thereon;

a first key retaining pin affixed to one side and spaced a distance from the end thereof, the pin extending a second lesser axial dimension toward the other side;

a second key retaining pin affixed to the other side and spaced a distance from the end thereof, the pin extending a second lesser axial dimension toward the one side; and

at least one peripheral cutout in each side positioned to allow ready access to a retained key. 

1. A key holder comprising: a first rigid side being centrally bent toward a second side; a second rigid side being centrally bent toward the first side, at least one of the first and second sides being temporarily deformable and having mechanical memory the first and second sides defining an unobstructed space and converging at their ends so as to provide a localized frictional restraint; a dowel centrally disposed and permanently affixed to each of the first and second sides for holding at least one point on the first side in fixed spatial relation with a point on the second side, the dowel having a first greater axial dimension; key retaining pins mounted transversely between the sides near each end thereof, each pin being rigidly attached to one of the sides and unattached to the other so that the pin will become spaced from the other side sufficiently to admit a key when a separating force is exerted upon at least one of the sides the pins having a second lesser axial dimension so as to permit the sides to converge at their ends and impinge upon the key in localized frictional restraint.
 2. A key holder as defined in claim 1 wherein said first and second sides present generally semi-circular cutouts for facilitating access to the retained keys.
 3. A key holder as defined in claim 1 wherein said second sides present an exterior imprintable surface.
 4. A key holder as defined in claim 1 wherein the key retaining pins are attached to opposite sides at opposite ends thereof.
 5. A key holder as defined in claim 1 further comprising: carrying means permanently mounted upon the dowel and spaced from both the first and second sides and having substantially the same size and peripheral configuration as the first and second sides; and additional key retaining pins mounted transversely between the sides so as to have one unattached end thereby permitting the pins to become spaced sufficiently to admit a key when a separating force is exerted upon at least one of the sides.
 6. A key holder compriSing: a first centrally and slightly bent, temporarily deformable side having mechanical memory; a second centrally and slightly bent, temporarily deformable side having mechanical memory; a connecting dowel having a first greater axial dimension and centrally disposed and affixed to each of the sides for maintaining the centers of the sides sufficiently spaced to cause only the ends of the sides to impinge upon the heads of retained keys and exert localized frictional restraint thereon; a first key retaining pin affixed to one side and spaced a distance from the end thereof, the pin extending a second lesser axial dimension toward the other side; a second key retaining pin affixed to the other side and spaced a distance from the end thereof, the pin extending a second lesser axial dimension toward the one side; and at least one peripheral cutout in each side positioned to allow ready access to a retained key. 